nd the darkness of Kurtz and society as a whole. Marlow also described the Native Woman in depth throughout the novel. In one such passage, he gives the reader an illustration by stating “She was savage and superb, wild eyed and magnificent…she stood looking at us without a stir and like the wilderness itself, with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose.” Conrad describes the Native Woman with such exuberance and detail in order to create a conflict between the African Native and the Intended. Later on in the story Marlow describes the Intended by stating: “She came forward all in black and with a pale head, floating toward me in the dusk…I noticed she was not very young—I mean not girlish…The room seemed to have grown darker, as if all the sad light of the cloudy evening had taken refuge on her forehead. This fair hair, this pale visage, this pure brow, seemed surrounded by an ashy halo from which the dark eyes looked out at me.” By analyzing the differences in these quotes, we can reduce the message down to one of the most important themes of the entire story. The Native represents purity, innocence, nature, and simplicity; the Intended is a symbol of industry, clamor, and exploration. Keeping this is in mind, and noticing how Conrad describes the Native as “magnificent” and “superb” and the Intended as “dark” and “cloudy”, it is apparent in which ideal Conrad supports. Conrad, like many of his contemporaries believed that society corrupts and simplicity key to happiness and fulfillment. Although the Native Woman is expressed as lovely and “purposeful”, Marlow still views her merely as an object, and not a complex being with notable substance or worth. Unlike Marlow, the Narrator has much more respect and adoration for women. The narrator isn’t as much of an integral part of the story as Marlow, and thu...
